Harare/Johannesburg - A group of senior United Nations officials has arrived in Zimbabwe to lead efforts to combat a devastating cholera epidemic, answering an appeal by President Robert Mugabe's government last week for help.

At least 575 people have died and over 12,000 people been infected in a cholera outbreak that began in sewage-drenched poor urban townships in August.

Because those figures do not include people who died at home, the real toll is thought to be much higher.

The state-controlled daily Herald newspaper said Tuesday that five World Health Organization (WHO) experts arrived from Geneva on Monday.

Delegation head Dr Eric Laroche said the group would be in Zimbabwe "to support the local WHO team control and stick to the guidelines of treating and registering
patients," and would offer technical, logistical and financial support.

On Thursday, the regime finally gave in to local and international pressure and called for international help to deal with what it called a national emergency.

Before that, the government had claimed it was in control of the situation and downplayed the severity of the epidemic.

Still this week the government was accusing Western governments of using the epidemic as a reason for intervention by the UN Security Council in Zimbabwe.

"They are dead set on ensuring that there is an invasion of Zimbabwe," said George Charamba, Mugabe's chief spokesman.

The epidemic has been caused by the collapse of water and sanitation services in urban areas, as evidenced by the raw effluent gushing out of people's drains, and
mountains of uncollected garbage.

Also Tuesday, the Herald reported that a bank in central Harare on Monday hurriedly evacuated hundreds of people queuing for money and shut the doors after a
visibly ill woman, suspected of being infected with cholera, was seen to have "soiled her clothes and the floor" where she was standing.

The bank reopened after municipal officials had disinfected the banking hall and the woman had been taken to hospital. (dpa)